Last night I was cooking enchiladas. The packet of corn tortillas, which was inside a box, said “contains wheat”. I checked the box and couldn’t find any sign saying the corn tortillas contained wheat and I thought it was a shame because there could have been someone allergic to gluten who had hoped to eat those tortillas. [Although, if someone really was allergic to gluten they would probably have a better idea than me of which foods to buy at the supermarket.] “What does this have to do with GM foods?” You might be asking. Well, nothing, but it got me thinking about labelling foods, which led me to the topic of genetically modified (GM) foods.
How do you feel about the prospect of eating food from genetically modified sources? Do you know what it means that something is genetically modified?
What is GM?
It seems to me that there is a lot of who-haa about GM foods and GM organisms, but much of the opposition comes from misunderstanding. People are afraid of GM and they don’t even know what it is (they’re probably afraid because they don’t know)!
For centuries farmers have selectively bred plants and animals that have desirable features. Plants have been cross bred to mix different characteristics together, with no concept of what else – other than the traits they want – they’re getting. Now they have the ability to choose what they want and to insert it.
Genetic modification doesn’t involve dealing with disgusting chemicals. It also doesn’t mean that you will be modified when you eat it. When you eat something you break it apart into its little molecules. Some molecules you will use whole, like vitamins, and some you will break down even further so that you can use them to make other things. The things that your body doesn’t want tend to get disposed of, things don’t become incorporated into your person, the DNA in Flavr Savr Tomatoes doesn’t combine with yours to stop your skin from getting droopy. Not everybody has the means to breakdown everything and some things can cause an immune response before they get broken down (e.g. people with coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, nut allergies). That doesn’t make gluten, lactose or nuts inherently bad.
There are legitimate concerns with GMs such as the containment or spread of introduced genetic traits. Whether other beneficial traits are lost in the process of introducing genes. Whether introductions of pesticides or antibiotic resistance is harmful to us. However, I find these concerns rarely addressed and rather the general fear of misunderstanding drives arguments on this topic.
More pressing dangers
There are many things that have been done in the past that you would never know about, chemicals that have permeated our lives and are continually increasing in concentrations in our bodies. For example, I knew a guy who worked with microbes to produce proteins for face care products (moisturisers etc). By law they were allowed to bombard these microbes with chemicals to make them over-produce proteins, but they couldn’t just make a little change to the genetics to do the same thing. Admittedly there would probably be little harm to the consumer because the proteins are extracted and wind up very far away from those chemicals. However, while everyone’s afraid of GM, the lab workers still have to work with stinky and harmful chemicals in processes that are more time consuming and less effective than GM.
For decades it was common practice for industrial sites to dump waste in near-by waters and to bury industrial waste in the ground, where it can leach into ground waters and surrounding areas. Many industrial chemicals accumulate in bodies and accumulate up the food chain. In the past, residential buildings have surrounded factories because factories are a good source of work, but then those factories spout heavy metal dust all over the houses.
As a result of industrial waste in Sydney waters it’s now illegal to fish in Sydney Harbour because the fish contain an unreasonable amount of dioxins and PCBs.
Many doctors recommend that pregnant women don’t eat crustaceans while they’re pregnant. I originally thought that the reason was for their tendency to attract dangerous microbes and to go off quickly. I thought the suggestion was odd due to our ability to refrigerate and adequately cook foods, reducing the risks of infection. I realise now that it’s also due to their ability to accumulate toxins that break down extremely slowly. In reality the recommendation should probably go to all women who might have children and breast-feed, which is a great way to pass on accumulated substances.
What I’m saying is that we should try to understand technologies and our current environment before boycotting something that may be useful. Driving a car, eating fish, breathing the air in old buildings can be just as dangerous, maybe even more so, as eating GM foods.
Extended reading
- Genetically Modified Food: Harmful of Helpful? – Has a good, simple overview of most of the issues, including the different types of GMs (e.g. pesticides nutrition, cold/heat tolerance).
- 50 Harmful Effects of Genetically Modified Foods – a good example of fear leading the discussion. I think most of the points are either taken out of context or don’t come under the banner of genetic modification.
- Food Standards website
- Genetically Modified Rice F.A.Q. (Poole Remix) – Intelligent discussion on Golden Rice and GM issues.
Would you be happy buying GM foods at the supermarket? Would you be happy to know that you’d bought and eaten GM foods that weren’t labelled as such? Do you think any genetic modification they perform and deem safe to sell is worse than the pesticides and other chemicals they’ve already fed you?
